No matter how exasperated Pei Chuyun was, the Guoshi’s status and position were undeniable, so when Lu Xingzhou was summoned to meet, she couldn’t stop it.

She could only watch Lu Xingzhou follow the Daoist priest away, feeling utterly furious, yet she still had to rush to select servants for Lu Xingzhou.

Otherwise, if Sheng Xiaogua chose first, there would be nothing left. The guards were already implicitly chosen from Sheng Yuanyao’s diplomatic corps. If the other staff were also selected by the Sheng family, then who would truly be in charge of Lu Fu’s back courtyard? They would have total control, absolute control!

Sheng Yuanyao, who was being closely guarded, was completely unaware of this. She had returned dusty and tired, hadn’t even had a sip of tea before being called to court, and now she was simply collapsing at home, motionless. Instead, Sheng Qingfeng paced back and forth beside her, trying to speak several times but hesitating.

“Seriously, Old Sheng, if you have something to say, just say it,” Sheng Yuanyao, feeling dizzy from his pacing, stopped him with a helpless sigh.

Sheng Qingfeng’s beard bristled with anger, “Just because you’re a general now, you can call me ‘Old Sheng,’ can’t you?”

“Save the ‘dad talk’ for later, let’s get to the main point, okay? Your little ‘cotton-padded jacket’ is really about to collapse from exhaustion.”

“Anyway, it’s leaky,” Sheng Qingfeng muttered, then quickly sighed, “Tell me the truth, were you deeply involved in the Demon Realm’s internal strife, fighting on the Dragon Emperor’s side against the rebels?”

Sheng Yuanyao paused, “Why would you think that? We didn’t just raid the homes of rebels. We also raided the home of Long Lie, the Dragon Emperor’s loyal lapdog. It didn’t show any favoritism, did it?” If Long Lie, whose love letters were now spread throughout the Demon Realm, knew that raiding his home was mainly for this purpose, he might just pull out a dragon tendon and hang himself.

“You can only fool others with that, including His Majesty… But I’m your father, don’t I know your character?” Sheng Qingfeng lowered his voice, “You seem reckless and like a dissolute young master, but in reality, you have your own sense of propriety. You could even compromise in a situation like Xiazhou Dongjiang, which you intensely disliked. How could you then take a few hundred soldiers and rashly raid the homes of high-ranking Demon Realm officials in a place like the Demon Capital? Even if you were dissolute, would you disregard the lives of so many members of the diplomatic corps? That’s not like you.”

Sheng Yuanyao twitched her mouth, “I didn’t realize I was so sensible, huh.” After all, she had even broken into the Dragon Emperor’s inner palace, though the price had been somewhat steep.

Sheng Qingfeng ignored her and continued, “Unless you knew you wouldn’t be punished, you wouldn’t have done that. Under what circumstances can you be sure you won’t be punished? Only if you were helping one side and were certain they would be the victor. The fact is, you haven’t received any punishment and even brought Chen Yu back… so it goes without saying which side you were on.”

Sheng Yuanyao gasped, “If the old emperor had even a third of your detective skills, I’d be headless.”

“What line of work am I in?” Sheng Qingfeng said helplessly, “If it were someone else, I’d present this analysis to His Majesty. An emperor doesn’t need to be good at solving cases himself; he just needs to know how to use people who can solve them. Don’t underestimate anyone. This time I’m showing favoritism. Do you think someone will show you favoritism every time? Besides, His Majesty just doesn’t understand you, after all, your reputation as a dissolute young master is quite widespread, and you seem like the type to do such things.”

Sheng Yuanyao laughed, “Looks like I’ll have to go to the casino again tomorrow, huh.”

Sheng Qingfeng glanced left and right, then picked up a belt, “Don’t think that just because you’re a general, I can’t whip you!”

Sheng Yuanyao quickly smiled apologetically, “No, no, no… Um, Dad, what are you trying to warn me about by saying all this?”

Sheng Qingfeng hesitated for a moment, then whispered, “Actually, even if you were impeached for siding with the Dragon Emperor, it’s not too big a deal in itself. After all, when you’re under someone else’s control, at their mercy, being forced to take sides can be widely understood and doesn’t mean you’ve defected to the Dragon Emperor.”

Sheng Yuanyao slapped the table, “Of course I wouldn’t defect to her! I am irreconcilable with the enemy chief!”

Sheng Qingfeng nodded with relief, “But there’s still a critical issue here. The people you dealt with were actually His Majesty’s people. This completely ruined His Majesty’s ten-year plan in the Demon Realm.”

Sheng Yuanyao’s cheek twitched. She had seen the secret letters with her own eyes, so of course she knew this problem. She hadn’t expected her father to know, and not only know, but dare to say it directly.

“You are a general now, not a child anymore,” Sheng Qingfeng’s expression was very serious, “His Majesty won’t speak of this, and the court will only treat you as meritorious officials. In reality, His Majesty will surely harbor resentment, even if he doesn’t show it. Not giving you a concrete official position in court today, I didn’t realize it at first, but now that I think about it carefully at home, this attitude might be problematic.”

Sheng Yuanyao also felt a sense of gravity, “I wasn’t a main force, just a minor player. With or without me, it wouldn’t change the outcome of this matter. Is he really that petty?”

“Hard to say… the emperor’s will is unpredictable.”

“The deed is done. How can I continue to play this role well?”

Sheng Qingfeng hesitated again, “Tomorrow, if you see someone you don’t like, go beat them up in the street. It would be best if you could get punished, let him strip you of your official position. That would allow him to vent his anger, which would be a good thing.”

Sheng Yuanyao was amused. Earlier, he said he’d whip her for going to the casino, isn’t this the same?

“Still silly laughing there,” Sheng Qingfeng said angrily, “Do you know Lu Xingzhou has a mansion now?”

“So what?” Sheng Yuanyao said indifferently, “He even discussed it with me on the way back, saying some members of the diplomatic corps wanted to retire, and he’d get a few to be guards. I gave him the cold shoulder then, didn’t even bother with him.”

“Such a good opportunity to place your own people by his side, and you gave him the cold shoulder and ignored him? Are you still very much…” Sheng Qingfeng paused, then sighed instead, “Hmm, it’s good you ignored him. It seems you don’t have any ‘house-fighting’ intentions, it’s not what I thought.”

Sheng Yuanyao froze for a moment, then suddenly jumped up and rushed out the door, “Mom, recommend some candidates for me…”

Sheng Qingfeng: “…” I thought you didn’t want to, but it turns out it was because of the melons.

Guoguan, Guaxing Tai.

Ye Tinglan had changed back into her Guoshi Daoist robes, her face covered with a light veil, sitting alone on the high platform, cross-legged, performing divination.

Lu Xingzhou, led by a Daoist priest to the base of the platform, looked up at that beautiful figure, feeling a dreamlike sense of unreality. She looked so ethereal, truly like an immortal goddess under the night sky, aloof from the world.

From any angle, this was a woman that no one in the world could ever possess, a woman completely unrelated to the word “love,” yet somehow she had grown closer and closer to him… It had to be said that a certain destiny was needed between people.

The key to their destiny was… she had used countless disguises to break free from that identity, forcefully transforming an immortal into a mortal.

So much so that now, when Lu Xingzhou saw her, he had to think for a long time, unsure how to address her when outsiders were present. Mister? Theoretically, only her identity as Ye Zhuoyu of the Danyuan Academy was “Mister.” Lu Xingzhou’s identity at Tianyao Shengdi was actually an unregistered disciple of Feng Ziliu, not of Ye Tinglan.

Lu Xingzhou ascended the steps, stood not far in front of Ye Tinglan, and after a long time, finally managed to say, “Greetings, Guoshi.”

Ye Tinglan opened her eyes. Whether it was an illusion or not… the first glance felt very distant, like the stars in the sky at this moment, seemingly twinkling with vitality, but actually infinitely light-years away.

The next moment, a smile appeared in her eyes, making the stars seem playful, regaining a human touch.

“What, you went to Longya and came back, got gilded, and now you look down on ‘Mister,’ so ‘Mister’ becomes ‘Guoshi,’ is that it?”

The Guoshi’s first words made the Daoist priests below shiver. They exchanged glances and simply ran off. This place was not safe; staying might lead to being silenced.

Lu Xingzhou sighed, “The disguises are all tangled up. I’m so confused now that I don’t know what to call you in front of outsiders.”

In fact, both of them knew that, at least in front of the people of Tianyao Shengdi, their attempts at concealment were self-deception. Who couldn’t see through their little secret? Sometimes, Ye Tinglan herself wondered what was the point of all that self-deception.

Time is always the best medicine and the best teacher. When everything cools down and you look back, many of the thoughts you had while caught in the situation will seem ridiculous. Either admit it or reject it, why bother with so many unnecessary things? But at that moment, giving yourself a way out was indispensable.

“You don’t need to call me Guoshi unless it’s an official court occasion,” Ye Tinglan finally said, “Call me Mister or Madam, whatever you like.”

This began to sound a bit flirtatious, and Lu Xingzhou finally found some of the girlfriend vibe he got when they talked on the phone. For a moment, he had almost thought she was a different person.

So he also relaxed, and smiled, “In front of them, I can also call you Madam?”

“Of course,” Ye Tinglan said expressionlessly, “I am still Madam Ye, everyone else can call me Madam, why can’t you?”

“Then others are not allowed to call you that,” Lu Xingzhou took a step forward.

A smile reappeared in Ye Tinglan’s eyes, “Bold now? I saw you shrinking back just now.”

“Was that shrinking back?” Lu Xingzhou finally reached her side, sitting next to her, and casually put his arm around her shoulder, “That was feeling that my wife was like a banished immortal, about to ride the wind away, and there was a feeling of not daring to profane her.”

“You’re the one who profanes me the most. You say such things without shame.”

In truth, after a long separation and reunion, Ye Tinglan couldn’t help but feel a little unaccustomed to the strangeness. With these few words, she slowly found the intimacy again, and leaned gently on his shoulder, following the strength of his arm. “Xingzhou… I used to think time flew by, ten years was just a snap of the fingers. Now I know that time is very slow. A mere two months felt so long, so long that when I saw you again, it felt like another lifetime, so long that it made both of us feel unfamiliar.”

Lu Xingzhou felt the same way, but he absolutely could not express it at this moment. Instead, he whispered in her ear with a soft laugh, “Isn’t that because someone put her veil back on?”

This was a bit of a double entendre… and Ye Tinglan responded with her own double entendre, “Isn’t this veil for you to take off?”

When a “mom-type” girlfriend starts to flirt, no one else stands a chance. Lu Xingzhou was so teased that his heart was itching. His lips, which had been near her ear, gently moved and latched onto her veil.

Then, instead of pulling it down, he traced it along her lips, unveiling her as he kissed her.

Ye Tinglan’s breathing quickened. The stars in the sky fell into the mortal world in that instant.